Table 1

Baseline characteristics of participants by group

Mini-sternotomy group (n=135)Conventional sternotomy group (n=135)
Baseline characteristics
Age (years)
 Mean±SD69.3±9.368.7±8.4
 Range43–8539–88
Gender n (%)
 Male78 (57.8)87 (64.4)
 Female57 (42.2)48 (35.6)
Ethnicity n (%)
 White British135 (100)135 (100)
Body mass index (kg/m2)
 Mean±SD30.5±5.630.4±6.1
 Range (min–max)19.0–45.419.3–52.0
EuroSCORE: Mean±SD (min–max)
 Logistic5.2±3.5 (1.5–29.5)5.1±3.5 (1.5–21.0)
 II–mean1.5±1.1 (0.5–10.2)1.5±1.2 (0.5–10.0)
Diagnosis echocardiogram: n (%)
 Regurgitation3 (2.2)8 (5.9)
 Stenosis132 (97.8)127 (94.1)
NYHA class: n (%)
 I24 (17.8)18 (13.3)
 II68 (50.4)66 (48.9)
 III40 (29.6)46 (34.1)
 IV3 (2.2)5 (3.7)
*Haemoglobin prior to randomisation: g/dL
 Mean±SD137.9±14.3137.1±16.1
 Range (min–max)97–17390–175
Surgery type: n (%)
 Elective111 (82.2)112 (82.6)
 In-house urgent24 (17.8)23 (17.4)
  • *One patient had a baseline haemoglobin (Hb) of 95 g/L at randomisation, which had fallen to 83 immediately prior to surgery. This Hb drop was not identified until after surgery and the patient continued in the trial with their data included in the analyses based on the intention-to-treat principle.